Suicideyear - Japan // Limited to 1000 Clear Vinyl LP

Baton Rouge’s very own James Prudhomme (aka Suicideyear) has just had his debut mixtapeÂ Japan reissued on Oneohtrix Point Never’s Mexican Summer imprintÂ Software – on hand-numbered limited vinyl no less.Â JapanÂ walks a very fine line between anachronistic/campy electronica with itsÂ use of bright, shimmering analog synth sounds (albeit with slight abstraction) and “this bumps in the whip” trap-influenced instrumental hip-hop with its extensive use of the infamous 808.Â Japan, more or less, gives us this glimpse in to aÂ grimy underbelly of some urban center plagued by ruin andÂ disarray.Â Japan gives mixed messages on whether you’re supposed to have this banging in your car or if you’re supposed to be crying yourself to sleep while this is playing. You don’t know whether to blast this at your next rambunctious house party or if you’re supposed to be using this during prayer/meditation. I like these mixed signals because it allows the listener even more permission to give JapanÂ any meaning that they see fit. Listen toÂ JapanÂ in full via the YouTube video below and see what you think of it. Cheers!

Japan is the official release of James Prudhommeâ€™s debut mixtape as Suicideyear.

Originally self-distributed in 2012, Japan brought producer Prudhomme to the center of the internetâ€™s mixtape expanse. While critical acclaim and fan fervor around Japan was gathering momentum, Prudhomme fastidiously crafted the Remembrance EP for Software Recording Co.

Suicidyearâ€™s proper label debut deviates from the darker hues of Japan while exploring a blossoming, watercolored type of melancholy. Synched with meticulous 808 patterns so on point and elegant, Remembrance makes it easy to take for granted what a meticulous craftsman Prudhomme is. With this in mind, revisiting Japan yields new discoveries.

Japan features reworked tracks from the original mixtape, an inventive redraft so as to avoid the ghosts of samples past and pastiche. Tracks like â€śKuuuuushâ€ť and â€śScarrâ€ť hit harder now, but there is a new sort of angelic sheen to them as well.

Like the metalworker who blends porcelain and pewter, Suicideyear's way of contrasting subtle parts (a chime here, a steel drum there) into a whole are most prominent on Japan. The results are hypnotic and in the flow. An eye and ear to Suicideyearâ€™s rookie year mixtape casts warm light towards his future, which we are all truly anticipating will be remarkable.